American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
2013’s GWAR B-Q, considered by many metal fans to be the most important slaughter-fest of the summer, returned to Richmond, Virginia on August 17. And in addition to the musical mayhem that it’s known for, this year’s blood-soaked extravaganza also brought the long-awaited GWAR Beer to thirsty bohabs (look it up) from all over the world who had made their pilgrimage to the band’s unhallowed ground zero.
Since Floridian’s were lucky enough to have the beer originate here, we had the opportunity to sample the beer 2 weeks before the event. On August 3rd, a brewery tour with Dave Brockie and Rob Chalmers, the creator of the GWAR Beer recipe, turned into an impromptu signing event at Cigar City. Later that night, The Brutal GWAR B-Q & Brew event at Crowbar in Ybor City served as the official GWAR Beer release party, and Oderus Urungus made an earthly appearance. Not only did he spend time with mere mortals willing to sacrifice their lives to be in his presence, but he also took the stage with GWAR Attack, a local GWAR cover band, for a full set.
In total, Cigar City brewed 30 barrels of GWAR Beer for the GWAR B-Q and events surrounding it. 135 cases and 20 kegs were sent to Richmond.
“At the GWAR B-Q, we sent 75 cases and 7 kegs and they sold every drop!” said Justin Clark, VP of Cigar City Brewing. “The beer was a one-time only, limited release and we had a blast brewing the beer with GWAR and Rob Chalmers. I’d also like to thank Brown, our distributor in Richmond, for making it all happen.”
Although select Richmond-based locations, such as Mekong Restaurant (which was just voted 2013 Best Craft Beer Bar in the US), were allotted limited allocations of this much sought-after beer, the lion’s share was shipped for the enjoyment of those attending GWAR’s festival.
2013’s GWAR B-Q was legend. 13 bands performed at Hadad’s Lake, an old-school water park in rural Richmond. Rural to the point of “This can’t be right. That’s a corn field!” But when you pass a car full of screaming fans hanging out the windows blasting GWAR at ear-splitting levels, you know you’re on the right path to something that’s wonderfully wrong.
At 10 am, the gates opened and a sea of inhumanity flooded in. Supporting GWAR were Richmond thrashers Municipal Waste and Pig Destroyer as well as Corrosion of Conformity, Cannabis Corpse, Loincloth, Mobile Death Camp, Kung Fu Dykes, Battlecross, and a host of others. A special highlight of the day was the reunion of X-Cops, a side project of GWAR’s Davie Brockie’s who had not played together since 1996. The main stage and supporting pavilion stage were timed with a precision that is rarely seen in music festivals. Within seconds of a band’s last note, the other stage would start raging and the crowd would move en masse between the 2 stages.
We also happened across something that was completely unexpected. GWAR fan’s Nick and Taylor Phelps decided to tie the knot that day at the fest, and GWAR’s own Dave Brockie was the ring bearer. And you don’t want to know where he chose to keep those rings safe …but it was definitely not on a pillow.
By 4 pm, the inevitable happened… the GWAR Beer was completely sold out. Doing the math, the brew tent crews were pouring roughly 500 pints per hour as the day wore on and the lines got longer. At one point, the beer tent lines merged in and out of the port-o-let lines – which was confusing and convenient at the same time.
At 5:45 pm, GWAR took the main stage in front of a crowd of nearly 3,000. Within minutes, the first 20 feet of fans were covered in blood. For anyone not in the know, GWAR is famous for their theatrical mock executions and hundreds of gallons of fake blood (and other such bodily fluids) that they spray on the crowd. The set list was brilliant and included “Bloodbath,” a new song from Battle Maximus, their 13th album that was just released on September 17th.
“The creation of GWAR Beer marks the beginning of a whole new era in drunkenness,” said GWAR front-thing Oderus Urungus. “Never has a batch of craft beer been drunk so quickly, and never has so much guzzling led to so many not only projectile-vomiting but also craving the experience over and over again. We need more GWAR Beer, and we need it NOW!”
With the encore of (the appropriately named) “Sick of You,” it was over and a sated crowd, drenched in blood (most of it fake) made their way happily out of the park. 2013’s GWAR B-Q was over, but even as things were winding down, I could hear many of GWAR’s minions making plans for next year’s madness.
